Coming Back
by menz815
Summary: After Peeta and Katniss return to District 12 after the end of the rebellion, they take their first steps back to each other. From Katniss's POV. Spoilers for Mockingjay.


A/N: This is my first time writing for The Hunger Games, but I loved the series so much that I had to try something. I hope you enjoy this!

Disclaimer: Don't own them or the books.

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In the weeks following her return to District 12, she finds herself staring at the primrose planted outside her window more than she would like, and she thinks of her sister, and the fiery inferno that took her away. But mostly she finds herself thinking about the boy next door, the boy with the bread, wondering if he has found his way back to her and what these flowers really mean. She's surprised to find that despite her uncertainty about everything in her life, he is the one thing that is clear, and the one thing she longs to hold onto.

It's been nearly a year since she has picked up her bow, and she feels as if she should be disgusted with it, that it should remind her of the hell that she has been through, of the crimes that she has committed, but her fingers ache to pull back the string and let every arrow in her arsenal fly away. She wants to feel normal again in this world that no longer makes sense. The woods, hunting, that is all she has left.

And though she's never been afraid of being alone, her heart aches for some sort of interaction; her solitary life has left her shackled with only the memories to keep her company. So as she walks out the door for the first time in days, her bow and arrow slung over her shoulder, she takes a left and knocks on Peeta's door.

"I'm going hunting," she says as he answers the door. It is all she can really manage to say; her voice is so hoarse with non-use, but he seems to understand her regardless. Maybe it is the pleading in her eyes, maybe it is simply that the need for human contact can be traced on a person's skin, but he follows her as she makes her way to the woods.

He doesn't say anything as he sits on the ground beneath a scorched tree, watching her hunt, but she wonders what he is thinking, and why he doesn't at least wander around. After she's felled a few turkeys (they've found their way back to the district after the bombing and now have started to flourish), she takes a seat beside him.

"In the arena, you forced me to pick berries and roots so I wouldn't scare away all the prey when you were hunting. Real or not real?" He asks.

She laughs despite herself; it bubbles out of her mouth, and to her ears she sounds deranged, but she doesn't stop. It occurs to her that this is why he sat so silently underneath the tree, simply keeping her company as he waited for her to finish. He's remembered their time together in the arena, and as her laughter dies down, she finds that some part of her is happy at this realization. It had taken her awhile to place the emotion. Finally she answers him with a smile on her face, "real."

They lapse into silence, listening to the faint rustle of the wind through the trees. Katniss is surprised she can still even go to these woods and not want to burn every tree to the ground. Maybe it is all the memories with her father, or maybe the other ones just don't seem to matter anymore. That world is gone, and despite all she has lost, she is grateful that she finally has freedom. As if he is somehow reading her mind, Peeta asks, "Do you miss him?"

She ponders his question for a second, searches inside her deadened soul, and finds that she misses the ways things had been with Gale before; two hunters, two comrades, two friends with the hint of maybe something more. But after everything that happened with the rebellion and Prim, she knows the answer is "no".

"Not anymore," she finally says to Peeta, giving him a faint smile.

And she wishes he would reach out and touch her like he had done before, but as she gazes down at his clenched fists and realizes he is fighting back another ugly image in his head, she's filled with hatred for the Capitol all over again. No amount of revenge could satiate her appetite.

But she wouldn't let them win again; she leans her forehead against his, bringing both her hands up to cup his face and whispers, "stay with me."

His response is so soft that she would have been sure she had imagined it if it were not for the feel of his breath of her cheek.

"_Always._"

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Please review and tell me how I did! It only takes a bit of your time :D


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